ConocoPhillips cuts 2015 CAPEX budget

The oil majors have begun responding. The question is, who gets the axe.

Dec 8 (Reuters) – ConocoPhillips said its 2015 capital budget would be 20 percent, or about $3 billion, lower than this year’s, the biggest spending cut by a U.S. oil and gas producer in dollar terms as oil prices hit five-year lows.

Shares of the company, which set a budget of $13.5 billion for 2015, fell as much as 3.5 percent to $65.50 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

ConocoPhillips said it would “defer significant investment” on less developed projects in the Montney and Duvernay fields in Canada, the Permian Basin in Texas and the Niobrara shale field, which extends over Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.

“The announced budget is well below our expectations of $15 billion,” Simmons & Co analysts wrote in a note.

ConocoPhillips, which is focusing on the Eagle Ford shale in Texas and North Dakota’s Bakken shale, said it would also spend less on major projects, many of which are nearing completion.

Global oil and gas projects worth more than $150 billion are likely to be put on hold next year, according to Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy.